Very thin membranes are useful as sample supports for electron microscopy. Extremely thin membranes (<50 nm) are nearly electron transparent, and these supports are useful in several electron microscopy techniques, including SEM, TEM, and STEM, as well as optical microscopy, x-ray microscopy, UV-VIS spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). One concern that emerges for extremely thin membranes is strength; as the thickness of the membrane decreases, it is more likely to break during handling and burst if a differential pressure is applied across the membrane. Since certain microscopy techniques, such as the use of environmental cells, depend on sustaining differential pressure across a membrane, the strength of extremely thin membranes is of keen interest. It is well known that area of the membrane region impacts strength. For a given membrane thickness, a smaller-region membrane offers higher burst pressure—that is, a smaller region membrane can withstand greater pressure differential than a larger region membrane of the same thickness. In theory, one could continue shrinking the membrane region to extremely small dimensions to achieve a high burst pressure for a given membrane thickness, but a tiny membrane region would be difficult to use in situ, would restrict the sample size that could be imaged, and is generally not useful for microscopy or spectroscopy techniques.
The present invention discloses a novel reinforced thin membrane structure with integrated support features, and methods of fabrication for this structure. The structure provides a larger region membrane with support features that subdivide the large membrane into smaller regions. This structure offers the sample viewing region of a large, thin membrane with the strength of individual smaller membranes.